Tank Temperature in the summer months?

[Aquarist Guru]

I thought a good discussion for the hot summer coming up would be to talk about how everyone keeps their tank at a steady temperature.

Is there any tricks or tips folks have on how to keep a steady temp when days can get triple digets?

Today i used a frozen water bottle floating on top to keep it steady a bit, but that wasn't enough eventually by late afternoon I had to kick the air conditioner on in the house but I just hate to do that.

So any suggestions are welcome.

[mothra]

Yeah my tank has already hit 85 one day.

Frozen juice bottles in the sump (or tank) can help. I do the same thing. Fans work wonders. A fan blowing across your sump, and/or tank can lower the temperature dramatically. It will increase your evaporation and overall humidity in your home though. And then there is the obvious answer - get a chiller. I don't have one, maybe those who do will chime in with their advice on setting up and running chillers.


Good topic.

[Sk8r]

Fans, fans, fans. Adjust the day night cycle to different hours. Take advantage of the cool periods.

[plankton]

Yup Sk8r has it right. If possible, adjust your tank lights to come on after hours since you can enjoy the tank more at night (assuming you don't have to go to bed early) and ambient temp is normally cooler at night.

If you have a temperature (and humidistat) controller hook it up to some fans blowing across your sump and tank if the temperature goes above some max temp (e.g. 80 deg F). You could also rig your lighting system to turn off if the temp also goes above some max such as 85 deg F.

I was able to rid my tank of a 1/2HP chiller just through evaporative cooling at the cost of about 10 G of RO/DI water per day during summer months.

Scott

[usmcwife]

This is a great discussion! I wish I had the money to afford a chiller.....But from what I'm seeing a cheap one is around $400! So the frozen water bottle idea sounds good. Will the fluctuations in temperature be a big deal though? How hot is TOO hot for reefs? Thanks!

[Reefugee]

One thing people should consider is calibrating your thermometer. I had a thermometer that is about 2 degree too low. So when my tank was reading 82F, it was really 84F.

usmcwife - I usually start worrying when my tank hits 82F. I am sure it can go a little higher with no problem, but at 82F, I start trying to reduce my temperature so that it doesn't go up any further.

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=835014

Minh

[mothra]

I don't like to see my tank above 82 either, but it has been as high as 86 and everything survives. Unfortunately corals tend to lose color when the temp is that high.

Personally I think no matter how you cool the tank you probably want to avoid temp swings of more than a couple of degrees.

[plankton]

In a reef, stability is the key; although, fish/corals can take a momentary spike (or dip) in the environment usually with no problem.

Another 'event' to plan for is <track from a scary movie> power outages. And no, I'm not prepared and should be. It is possible (almost likely) that in our state you will at some point experience a power outage.

What to do depends on how big your tank is, the power consumption of your tank (see other threads regarding Kill-A-Watt, your stocking levels and how long you think the outage will last.

The solution could be a simple battery-powered air pump or buying/borrowing a generator to power your tank and/or your whole house during outages.

I think we all should at least own those inexpensive battery-powered airpumps (or a UPS) just in case. Just an idea.

Scott

[Reefugee]

I have two Silent Air B11 Battery Back-up pumps. Basically it has 2 D-Cells. The unit plugs into the wall. When it detects an outage, the unit turns on. Pretty cheap too. $11.

http://www.petsolutions.com/Silent+Air+B11+Battery+Back+up+Pump-I-30129045-I-C-10-C-.aspx

[mothra]

I have one of those and have used it.

[rulesmith]

I have my tank set up to start the fans at 79 degrees. I stated this two weeks ago. Since then I have not gone above 80.5. I also set up the lights to come on at 1:30 pm and off at 11:00pm.

I am using one fan now, plan to go to two for the summer. So glad the autotop off is working.

[Aquarist Guru]

what kind of fans do you guys use? Also whats a good auto top system to use?

[mothra]

I use a Honeywell 9" fan above my sump. Smaller fans are more popular for cooling your lights, I have some Orion fans that I need to hook up for that purpose.

I only have semi-auto top off :D so I can't comment on that really. I think we have one or two club members with the Spectra Pure ATO system.

[friendorfoe]

I too use plastic bottle to keep my tempurature down. I also moved the tank away from any windows. As for power outages, I have a UPS, suppose to hold back up for about 6 hours, I hope power does not stay off any longer.

[buffer]

my tank keeps at a constant 85. NOT GOOD! I gotta basically fill the large gallon sized ziplock bags, freeze them, and put 2 in my tank. its basically getting out of hand. THIS IS WITH MY LIGHTS OFF!! I'm just using the natural sunlight. i'm thinking my fish are going to be cooked if gets any hotter.

[mothra]

Brian,

Is your tank sitting next to a window? If so you might be doing more harm than good my using the sunlight from the window. I had to install heat blocking shades in my tank room for the same reason.

Do you have any fans on your tank? A couple of small fans blowing across the top of the tank can easily lower the temp by 2-4 degrees.

[Bdimas]

Brian,

Have you double checked your temp with another thermometer? Maybe the one you are using is faulty. Although if your tank is sitting in direct sunlight its gonna get very warm.

[plankton]

Double check to make sure your heater has not malfunctioned and is cooking your tank (happened to 2 other people I know).

Bdimas also bring up a good point to try using another thermometer just to be sure your tank is at 85 deg F.

Evaporative cooling does work but be prepared to replace all that evaporated water!

Natural sunlight can be used but is also rich in red/yellow spectrum which is also good for growing algae!

Might want to try some power compacts instead of natural sun light? Dunno..

Scott

[mothra]

Hooked up my Orion fans about a week ago to blow across my lights. My temp is now between 79-81 without the need for ice bottles. Prior to that it had hit 85 several times and 86 once.

[Aquarist Guru]

I added some more blinds in my kitchen completeing what my wife likes to call "my cave" by officially having all sun blocked from my living room if I wish.

It helped alot with the general house heat up.

Plus the tanks been fine with thems since, but I also run the AC at 79 degrees if the sun gets over about 90.

<--- fat men melt at 90+